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Samsung and Apple are responsible for 90 percent of smartphone profits, according to new findings out of ABI Research. Collectively capturing more than half (55 percent) of the market, the two companies seem to be running away with our smartphone monies. Whereas Apple is still the leader in profitability, Samsung now leads all with 43 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter.

According to the alwayssometimes occasionally reliable FOSS patents, Apple made a conscious decision to allow Samsung to launch the Galaxy S III on time... so that the case could go to trial sooner. Apple had the option of filing a temporary restraining order to potentially stop the shipment of the SGSIII, but doing so would've been a risk for a few reasons.

Apple is at it again, folks. Time for some more lawsuit news, as Big Fruit has not only renewed their claims against HTC, but is now adding the Samsung Galaxy S III to their line of supposed evildoers.

The claim against HTC involves the "data tapping" hyperlink menu, and is asking for an emergency proceeding to ban the following devices at the border:

Yesterdays's Google Earth announcement brought a couple of nice new features to the Google Maps suite. In addition to moving offline maps out of Labs, the company also pre-empted rumors of Apple-branded 3D map software with a demo of some stellar 3D maps that Google has been creating with high-tech camera planes. Yes, Google now has camera planes.

Google announced today that it will be holding a special event on Wednesday, June 6th, regarding the future of Google Maps. Anyone who knows Google knows that these products are huge for the company, ranking right up there with Gmail and Android. More importantly, however, Google Maps is very important to Google's largest competitor: Apple. Which is why, when Google announces an event for one of its last major strongholds on iOS mere days before Apple's WWDC, we take notice.

The last few years have been really exciting. Heck, the whole last decade. The explosive proliferation of broadband brought about a whole new world of possibilities for mankind, and the mobile revolution, even moreso. From about 2007 to the present, we watched as Apple and Google, as well as a host of phone manufacturers, turned the world upside down by putting powerful, location-aware, internet-connected, touchscreen mini-computers in the hands of everyday consumers for a price that is relatively affordable.

Research firm IDC tells us that the Android arms race is fast becoming Samsung's to lose. New figures out of the IDC camp show that Samsung moved 42.2 million smartphones in the first quarter of the year (2012) whereas HTC trailed with 6.9 million. The numbers are a snapshot of the world market and factor in all comers, including Apple, RIM, and Nokia.

So here's a twist: instead of Apple just continuously suing Samsung and Motorola over patent violations, the Cupertino company is now ready to negotiate terms that would end several of its ongoing suits with the aforementioned companies. The deal in question? Samsung and Motorola pay Apple between $5 and $15 for each Android handset sold.

Privacy is a good thing in the digital world - you'll get no argument from me. I don't like my data floating around in cyberspace without my consent, but I also realize that much of what makes the internet (and computing generally) so great is that I can use my own judgment to decide who I will and will not trust with my information.

Things like app permissions, which have been a part of the Android package installation process for quite some time, are nice, but let's face it: 95% of us don't read them. And if we do, we may not even be sure what those permissions really entail, or how the app will use those permissions to gather information, or even what kind of information will actually be collected.

California's Attorney General decided he didn't like this, particularly after the whole Path debacle on iOS. So, he got Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and other mobile app providers together for a round-table discussion on the privacy of personal information gathered by apps. The end result of that meeting-of-the-minds was this agreement. The parts of importance to pull out are the following:

A preliminary assessment of the reworked Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 by a court in Germany has found that the subtle changes to the device are enough to differentiate it from the Apple iPad, and has rejected Apple’s latest claim that the tweeked Android tablet, now known as the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, still infringes its protected intellectual property.